Only for about 8 hours a day when I'm not at work or asleep. And when I'm asleep, I have a locked and loaded AR-15 under the bed.

For the privilege of carrying a gun, I had to pay the state $150, pay an instructor $150, attend 8 hours of class teaching the legalities behind the use of force, and ace a 50 round shooting qualification. The FBI did a background check on me and the state has my fingerprints. I spent more money on training to obtain proficiency, and a lot more in ammunition to keep it.

I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs. I keep out of dangerous areas at night, and basically do my damnedest to avoid trouble. Aside from a little speeding (always within 10 mph of the speed limit), I'm a perfectly aboveboard citizen.

Frankly, it's the man and not the tool you should be worried about. You see more dangerous people with more deadly tools than me all the time.

Man Vs Tool - uhm... sure, but won't it be A LOT more fun if all forms of guns were not only outlawed, but completely taken out of circulation (like instituting a "Give us your guns or we kill you" law and you'll see those guns off the streets prettty quickly).

Then we'll all be back to bows and arrows, swords and of course the occasional cross-bow

To the guys with the guns, damn some of those collections look REALLY nice. Personally, I'm against guns on a principle level, but would I personally like to have one for sport, damn right!

I think that what most people don't realise is most of these are purchased over and extended period of time. Mine spans a 15 year time frame. A lot of people just see 6-10 guns and think "Oh sh*t... that's a lot guns!"

It's not like we go out and get a new one every 6 months. I find that seems to be the standard reaction when you see someone's collection.

To those of you who say "I'm scared of those things" I believe that is due to being unfamiliar with firearms and how they work. I'll preface that with a little story..

I was having lunch with a friend of mine about 4 weeks ago and we were discussing various topics and self-defense and firearms came up. She lives alone and as of late it's been on her mind. Now I haven't shot anything in about 6 years, so half-jokingly I mentioned we could go to the range sometime.

She was all over that. I was completely floored...because I assumed that shooting would be the last thing in the world that she would ever do. Proved me wrong. So we had gun class for 2.5 hours... going over safety, how a revolver works, how a semi-automatic (Ruger 22/45) works, loading, safety, and surprisingly combat tactics. She asked a ton of questions and was a great student. No mistakes at the range either. She got in the 10 ring close to the X on her first shot.

I guess my point is until you are instructed in their use it's pointless to be afraid of them. Are they dangerous? You bet. But so is a car if you put someone in it who has never ever driven one and tell them to go to the store.

Finally...

I would prefer if someone has another opinion about firearms that they start their own thread. This thread will get locked in a heartbeat if debates start, and the thread was started for those of us here who lawfully own and responsibly use our firearms. You are absolutely entitled to your opinion, but don't threadcrap... and so far no one has yet. I enjoy seeing what the other Head-Fiers have and don't mind showing mine either.

Only for about 8 hours a day when I'm not at work or asleep. And when I'm asleep, I have a locked and loaded AR-15 under the bed.

For the privilege of carrying a gun, I had to pay the state $150, pay an instructor $150, attend 8 hours of class teaching the legalities behind the use of force, and ace a 50 round shooting qualification. The FBI did a background check on me and the state has my fingerprints. I spent more money on training to obtain proficiency, and a lot more in ammunition to keep it.

That sounds pretty depressing, considering I'm planning on moving to TX this fall for grad school...you don't even have open carry! And yet I hear about how progun TX is all the time. I'm seriously not too thrilled.

That sounds pretty depressing, considering I'm planning on moving to TX this fall for grad school...you don't even have open carry! And yet I hear about how progun TX is all the time. I'm seriously not too thrilled.

Texans are pro-gun. Our laws aren't. Over a century of single party rule and Jim Crow laws does funny things.

Really, you have to remember that Texas had a major political revolution during the first half of the 90's. Since the Civil War, the Texas government was solidly ruled by Democrats. Around 1960, Republicans started gaining ground in Texas. The situation continued until 1990, when Republicans pulled nearly 60% of the votes in the House and Senate races, but gerrymandering prevented them from controlling the government.

In '94 though, the Republican party, lead by George W Bush, solidly crushed the Democrats. Unsurprisingly, after fitful starts in the '80s and early '90's, our CHL law was passed in 1995. It's flawed because the Republicans' grasp on power was still tenuous at the time and they had to compromise in order to pass the law.